Best Documentary Ever?

What is the best documentary film you've seen?

I've watched many, and though M Moore has an interesting way of presenting his viewpoints, many of which I agree with, I have to vote for:

The Fog of War. Honest, no-spin moviemaking.

What do you think? What's the best?

On many, many levels. Ken Burns reinvented the medium.

IMO, nothing else Burns has done is quite as resonant as The Civil War, but perhaps it's the mythic qualities inherent in the subject matter.

If you haven't seen it yet, try to.

There are so many, depends on what you dig. I'm a HUGE fan of anything that Sir David Attenborough does, plus if I watch telly it's usually something on PBS, Discovery Channel, etc. And oddly enough, I can't think of a single one at the mo'. :D

Ooooh yeah, Spellbound was excellent also. :)

Ghosts of the Abyss, it is pretty good.

by Bill Carter
Dunno if it's my favorite, but worth a look.

On this coming Sunday night.

I'm going to check it out.

From 1973-1974 CBS ran a series that showed some of their historic news documentaries from the 1950's to early 1960's. Several I remember:

-Harvest of Shame (conditions of migrant farm workers)
-Edward Murrow's "See it Now" - which included the segment on Sen. McCarthy's tactics
-The Silent Spring (Rachel Carson's book about enviromental damage from pesticides)

The film interweaves the stories of four obsessive men, each driven to create eccentric worlds of their dreams, all involving animals: Dave Hoover, a lion tamer who idolizes the late Clyde Beatty, and who shares his odd theories on the mental processes of wild animals; George Mendonça, a topiary gardener who has devoted a lifetime to painstakingly shaping bears and giraffes out of hedges and trees; Ray Mendez, who is fascinated with hairless mole-rats, tiny buck-toothed mammals who behave like insects; and Rodney Brooks, an M.I.T. scientist who has designed complex, autonomous robots that can crawl like bugs without specific instructions from a human controller. As the film proceeds, thematic connections between the four protagonists begin to emerge: the lion tamer and the topiary gardener look back at ways of life which are fading from the scene; the mole-rat specialist and the robot scientist eye the future, envisioning creatures that may someday replace the human race.

About very very dysfunctional cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy, by the Maysles.

died in February 2003. At least I heard she got some money to take care of her golden years. The story of the Bouviers is more compelling than the Kennedys. (Jackie's father was raised in Nutley, New Jersey. Not exactly poolside at the Maidstone.)

About very very dysfunctional cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy, by the Maysles.

Watched it Friday last week for the first time. My review is up at www.horrorview.com

Maybe not the best, but it's my personal favorite.

It's the one I find myself thinking about the most.

British tv documentary series about WW2 which came out in the 70s.

For a film documentary, I'd pick "King: Mongomery to Memphis."

And whether you like the conclusions it draws or not, I have to admit that "Waco: The Rules of Engagement" was very compelling. I would have never believed that playing "These Boots were Made for Walking" could send chills down my back...

Hilarious, yet heartbreaking, study of traveling bible salesmen

Others:
"Marjoe" Sarah Kernochan
"My Best Fiend" Werner Herzog
"Night And Fog" Alain Resnais
"The Thin Blue Line" Errol Morris

Story about three goth kids on trail for murder in a fundy county. It is incredibly shocking how very little circumstantial evidence it took to convict them.

Eyes on the Prize is mandatory viewing if you want to understand the CRM.

Charcoal People is about the raping of the South American forrests and the torturous work the native peoples do to supply our demand for the stuff over which we grill our meat--which they have little of. I switched to gas grilling after watching that documentary. It was sad.

That's the sign of a good documentary. You can watch it over and over and never get bored with it.

Story about a girl in Brooklyn whose family is going to put vinyl siding on their home...then she investigates PCB's and their damage to the environment at every stage of production and the disease processes caused by them...done really well.

in a post-911 America.

just for something a little different.

I was riveted to and fascinated by the series in the '70s, shown on PBS as I recall. It was produced by Greenspan and his wife Cappy. Terrific storytelling by Greenspan in a very low key style, and rare Olympic footage even from very early in the 20th Century.

Apparently that documentary series was translated and shown all over the world. I have attended many Olympic Games over the past 20 years and it's amazing how many foreigners I talk to remember watching The Olympiad and plenty of its specifics.

Great theatrical documentary about the Depression made decades ago.

I do like the Civil war documentary by Ken Burns, but my favorite so far is the PBS special called American Roots Music. If you like American music... Blues, Folk, Country Western, Jazz, Native American, ect... it is a well put together set.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bowling for Columbine yet.

Roger and Me and The Big One are great too.

if you want to see poverty in america, look no further.